A pair of vehicle collisions on the Parks Highway caused one fatality and sent several people to the hospital Thursday afternoon with injuries ranging from “very serious” to “non life-threatening," a Mat-Su Borough emergency official said.
The two crashes shut down the highway late Thursday afternoon at Church Road in Wasilla and at Big Lake Road, according to authorities. By evening, both roads had been opened.
At 3:06 p.m., Troopers received a report of a crash at Big Lake Road, where a semi-truck had collided with an SUV, authorities said. Three people were injured in that accident, all of them in the SUV. Two were taken by ambulance to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and the third was medevaced to Anchorage, said Ken Barkley, acting director for Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services.
One of the people involved in that accident has died, according to Tim DeSpain, a spokesman with the Alaska State Troopers.
The only thing unusual about the road conditions at the time was a light rain, Barkley noted.
Just before the Big Lake crash, a two-vehicle accident was reported at the Parks Highway and Church Road, Barkley said.
Of the three people involved in that accident, one was taken by ambulance to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and another was medevaced to Anchorage by helicopter, Barkley said.
Barkley said he wasn’t aware of what kind of vehicles were involved in the crash.